Your Electronic Backfencedc.story is presented in association with Washington’s News Station WTOP-1500 AM and 94.3 FM***They're both WTOP. Congratulations to WTOP News Director Michelle Komes and Afternoon Sports Anchor Steve Dolge who, somehow, managed to get married over the weekend—in the midst of a busy news week and the opening of a new football stadium! -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Dear Neighbors: I have always wondered what happens when someone posts a query on dc.story. I know of several satisfied natural enquirers who got the scoop they were seeking. But I wonder how many of you respond to queries by posting to me instead of the poor soul who asked the question? Please keep in mind that I only have room to post query responses of general interest. Of course, we could start a mailing list to share information about contractor experiences...but who would have time to keep track of that much traffic? **** Many of you must have been sleep walking your way through the past issue when I was offering—ta da—Discounted Passes for Deep Creek Lake. Sitting right on top of the continental divide and less than a three hour drive from politically polluted DC, Harley Farm Bed & Breakfast in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland is waiting for you and your loved one. I’ve got discounted coupons for three nights available to turn into cash. Check out the B&B (which is really an Inn—I’ve been there) at http://www.miworld.net/~harleyfarmbb/ Best offer. The coupons are valid through November 16, 1997. Please don’t make me run this ad again. -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Please help us to welcome a new sponsor, FRESH FIELDS/Whole Foods Market. Join FRESH FIELDS/Whole Foods Market in supporting "AIDS Walk Washington" which takes place Sunday, September 21. On September 18, *All Twelve* area FRESH FIELDS/Whole Foods Market Stores will donate ** 5% ** Of Their Net Sales to "AIDS Walk Washington" benefiting Whitman-Walker Clinic. **Plus, Register to win a pair of tickets to the Pulitzer Prize winning play "Rent"!** Stop by FRESH FIELDS/Whole Foods Market on September 18 and enter to win! (Two tickets per store. . . No purchase necessary. . . One entry per person) For more Info or to sign-up for the AIDS Walk, please call 202-332-WALK. -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ In this issue of dc.story, politicians as entertainers, falling timber, alternative schools, and more conventional thoughts. Cheers, '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' That’s Entertainment! Tired of the having the kids around the house? Sick of the Control Board, Post editorials, School Trustees, President, Congress, Mayor and Council? Let’s talk about fame. For a lot of DC Story buffs a local ANC rep qualifies as a celebrity. This time let’s put all the usual folks aside and concentrate on those dc folks who’ve made it big or kind of big. Some are obvious like Al Jolson. Jolie not only came from here, but frequently came back. Story has it that he’s pitch in and help his brother in his NE liquor store. Others that come to mind are Kate Smith, and Marvin Gaye. One of my favorites is Peaches and Herb. Between comebacks Herb was a DC cop. Walter Fauntroy cut an album, but it never saw the charts. Steph Faul tells me that Abbott and Costello have a dc link. I don’t know, I always thought they were from Niagara Falls. My list is pretty short, what about yours? **** Fiddling While Rome Burns I see in this week’s official Calendar of the D.C. Council that Harry Thomas has introduced Bill No. 12-322, the "State of New Columbia Flag and Seal Designation Act of 1997," whose purpose is described as "to designate an official flag and the insignia for the seal for the State of New Columbia." This is long overdue. Surprisingly, however, it seems there have been no bills introduced to designate the Official Bird, Flower, Song, Tree, Sport, Motto, Alcoholic Beverage, Cigarette, Snack Food, or Recreational Drug of the State of New Columbia. Perhaps we should have a contest, with our fearless editor as judge. **** Klingle Woods How Do You Feel About: * 72 new houses built in the woods between Macomb and Klingle? * Cutting down a whole urban forest of trees? * Greatly increased traffic in Cleveland Park and Woodley Park? * Devastation of the environment? * Re-opening Klingle Road to cars and trucks? * Destruction of an historical landmark (Tregaron Estate)? * Loss of very limited parking? If you are concerned about these threats to our neighborhood, please attend a meeting to hear and view the construction plans as proposed by Battel Builders, Inc. This important meeting will be held at the Cleveland Park Congregational Church Community Room, 34th & Lowell Streets, N.W., Tuesday, September 23rd at 7:30pm. Let the developer know your concerns or objections before it is too late! **** Not An Stand-up Tree In the 7100 block of Alaska Avenue on The Walter Reed side of the street there is a tree that has a foot+ long crack at the bottom of its trunk and is bowed over the two closest east-bound lanes. A few of my requests from various offices of the DPW have been filled lately, but I haven’t been lucky with trees. Does anyone know a good number to call to get some action? **** DC Parents Are Privatizing Public Schools Spontaneously Interesting to hear that some parents are taking the school closure matter into their own hands and hiring public school teachers to do freelance tutorials. Of course, that’s not fair to the parents who care about their children’s education but can’t afford to hire a tutor. Why not let each public school parent get a credit for the amount that would have been spent on their children’s education had the public schools opened on time? They could use the credit to hire the teachers who are currently idle. In time, parents may find they like having direct control of who educates their children. They may even form informal charter schools open to any DCPS student in the neighborhood. Heck, they might just decide to bypass the whole public education monopoly altogether and establish a network of independent schools in DC offering a quality education to all comers. A threat to public education as we know it? Let’s hope so. **** Stadium School? Amidst the saturation news coverage of the new Redskins stadium, it occurred to me that its capacity matches almost exactly the presumed enrollment in the closed D.C. school system—about 78,000. Why don’t the authorities send all the kids out to Raljon for one big class? If nothing else, the older kids could teach the younger ones something. Yeah, I know this is crazy, but it does illustrate the imbalance in press coverage. The media seem to have accepted the Becton view that the school closure is not a crisis, just another little inconvenience. (And yes, I am a football fan, not some kind of antisports fanatic.) P.S.: thanks to those who responded to a post in a recent D.C. story to suggest public-service opportunities for D.C. students. **** Stars and Stripes Forever I’m pleased to learn the new Metro bus stripes result from an employee contest and a money-saving effort. I commend Metro and their employees. However, I still think the new stripes are borrrrrrrrrring. On a related topic, have you noticed the new D.C. police car markings. Very jazzy compared with the staid old blue stripe along the side. However, I find the new look tacky. At least the old markings look "official." What say you all? **** Rebutting the Convention Center Rebuttal I’ve never been one to let a good discussion flounder because I failed to rebut a rebuttal… First, I probably should have written a more sober reply initially but I am truly tired of seeing two people, Beth Solomon and Leroy Thorpe, depicted as the voices of this community, when they are virtually the only opponents to the project, and I deeply resent the suggestion that the supporters have been bought off. The reality is that we have spent thousands of hours conferring with the architects, traffic managers, designers, etc to make this project a good neighbor. We’re not desperate for any development, we want good development, and we think the Center can provide it. Before you form an opinion about the proposed Center, look at the facts. The design is not yet complete, but the planners have heard our concerns that the structure fit in with the historic Victorian community around it. One writer described this community as a potential Greenwich Village— I suppose he was referring to the great buildings here, but he apparently failed to notice that many are burned out, boarded up, or crack dens, and the Village does not have a six square block hole in the middle of it that, without the Center, will not be a charming collection of homes, cafes and boutiques, but will remain a giant crime attractant. They’ve also heard what we said about traffic and parking and will have a full-time employee dedicated to ensuring that trucks stay off residential streets (a benefit we clearly don’t have with the current Center) and we will have a resident permit parking system to keep Center users and employees from taking up our parking spaces. Will the marshalling yard work? I assume so— it’s standard operating procedure at every other convention center. Will we have more traffic? I certainly hope so— people with legitimate business here, not suburbanites in search of drugs and sex. The Center will also have retail space accessible from the street, sidewalk cafes, and other amenities we need— like employment opportunities. My neighbors and I have worked very hard to make this Center a good neighbor, and we think we’re getting a good deal. Why do people who don’t live here think they know best for this neighborhood? Learn the facts. **** Convention As a meeting planner and District resident, I have talked with Shaw residents and with those who work in/at/for and those who cannot now use the current, badly undersized, Convention Center, about the proposed expansion. At first I was very much in favor of the proposed site near the current Center until I understood this site does not allow room for expansion. More, the traffic and parking situations, already aggravated, will, with the opening of the MCI Center and the Opera House, be horrendous. If the City and the Center authorities do not address the issues of traffic (do they really think people attending a convention will take public transportation rather than buses provided by specific meetings or taxis???) and impact on the n’hood, we all have to lobby FOR a new center but NOT in the Shaw n’hood .Perhaps one solution is to find those in the hospitality industry who LIVE in Shaw to help lobby against a change of venue. Any takers? **** Convention Center I wanted to share some experience I gleaned while working with numerous communities across the country that were dealing with a loss of a military base; I find many of the same concerns very similar to those fighting the convention center. The biggest mistake is fighting the decision itself...its too late people!! Accept the fact that the powers that be have decided it going at the MT. Vernon site, and instead spend every ounce of time and penny on various measures of mitigation to better the situation. If you don’t proactively pursue these while they are in draft, you will miss the opportunity to make a difference and before you know it, the center will be built. Mitigation items currently include historic district and individual designations, a historic preservation revolving fund, and a demolition moratorium.… **** Internet Service Provider CPCUG, local non-profit 5000-member PC user group, operates Internet domain cpcug.org, open to CPCUG members only. CPCUG membership is $35/year (but increases soon), includes group’s BBS, monthly magazine, discounts on classes, couple hundred volunteers to help with diverse PC and related questions/problems, other benefits. CPCUG offers dozens of meetings every month, open to public <http://www.cpcug.org>. Membership is family based, so one membership fee entitles all family members to benefits.The cpcug.org domain extra-fee service offers several forms of Internet access, and access to a volunteer user support team (including yours truly). I can’t quote prices from memory, believe we’re competitive with features offered (e.g., Web space/service for $10 one time fee). I run CPCUG’s Internet SIG (special interest group) <http://www.cpcug.org/user/internet> which meets monthly, second Tuesday, at Washington gas Light in Springfield, VA. October speaker is Rob Pegoraro, legendary WashPost Fast Forward editor, topic is primarily Internet search engines, about which he wrote a while ago. But he’ll probably also discuss Post’s ISP census, scheduled to appear late October. We’re also selling the Entertainment ‘98 discount coupon books, get ‘em early and score those discounts. Info is on cpcug.org Web site. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.queries Need Contractor: Anyone know a reliable contractor who does quality work? We’re in dire need of some drywall repair and painting. Andrea Carlson BintaGay@aol.com Looking for an Electrician: Can anyone recommend a reasonably-priced, reliable electrician? Stuart Weiser otter@clark.net '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.events Public Talk: "Sacred World," By Jeremy Hayward, Ph.d. Shambhala Meditation Center Of Washington, DC On Thursday, September 18, at 8:00 p.m., Author Dr. Jeremy Hayward will give a public talk entitled "Sacred World" at the Shambhala Meditation Center of Washington, DC,8719 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. $5 donation requested. More details at http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/dc.story/announce12.html David Uglow uglow_d@bls.gov **** September 19, 1997. The Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars announces an afternoon colloquium. Close Encounters of the Imperial Kind: Writing the Cultural History of U. S. - Latin American Relations. Gilbert Joseph, Professor of History and Director of Latin American Studies, Yale University, and former Woodrow Wilson Center fellow with comments by Catherine LeGrand, Associate Professor of History, McGill University. The event will be held Friday, September 19, 1997, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. A reception will follow in the Woodrow Wilson Center Library, located at 1000 Jefferson Dr. SW in the Smithsonian Castle Building and is open to the public - no RSVP is required. Michelle Granson wwcem200@sivm.si.edu **** Fundraiser for homeless dogs and cats The Partnership for Animal Welfare (PAW) a non-profit, all volunteer dog and cat rescue group is selling 1998 Entertainment Books. We have books for all metro DC and Baltimore areas as well as books for ANY area in the country. Cost is $35. Contact me for more information (202-333-8486). Stacey Patmore SPatmore@nas.edu ***** "Great French Country Winetasting: Michael Franz’s Favorite Choices" The Washington Tasting Society presents: "Great French Country Winetasting: Michael Franz’s Favorite Choices" Michael Franz, the Washington Post’s Wine Columnist Extraordinaire, chooses his favorite French country wines, some that are truly distinct and new to the US. We will discuss and taste over 8 of these truly delectable wines! He will also cover such topics as how to read labels, where are the good values in French wine, and matching food and wine. Thursday, September 25th, from 6:30-9:00PM. Fellini’s Restaurant, 1800 M St. NW, (courtyard entrance) Event Cover= $33 in advance. Make your RESERVATIONS now before it’s sold out by calling (202)333-5588, emailing: wine@tastedc.com or check out our web page at http://www.tastedc.com Charlie Adler wine@tastedc.com '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' dc.market Piano - For Donation Upright Knabe, has a market value of about $1500, but needs about $1000 worth or refurbishing to restore to "like new" condition. Will donate to any charitable organization to use or sell. Joe Davidson jdavidson@interguru.com 301.593. 4152 **** Mac for Sale MacIntosh SE- FDHD w/5 ½ x 7 ½ inch monitor. Comes with an extra Hard Drive (Procom- Model MD45), Hayes 2400 baud Modem w/Smartcom 1.04 Software, HP DeskWriter Printer and nylon padded carrying case. Also included: Calender Maker, Print Shop, MacWrite. Best offer. Cyndy nahabedc@ojp.usdoj.gov **** House History Service! Can you answer questions about your house or building history? When it was built, who built it, who lived there, and what they did? Now you can! A professional house history narrative, complete with scanned copies of your building permit, first deed, maps, and sometimes even historic photographs. A terrific and unusual Christmas gift! Our prices range from $450 to $600 for the average DC townhouse. Call or contact us with your address for a free estimate, or visit Kelsey & Associates http://www.ustreet.com/pkelsey, or at 202-462-6251. Many happy DC: Story Customers Served! Paul K. Williams PkelseyW@aol.com -^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^ Also free! dc.movie: Free movie passes, short movie reviews, and movie discussion. Send an email message to story@intr.net to subscribe. ================= dc.story is a discussion group. The opinions stated are the sole responsibility of the authors. dc.story does not verify information provided by readers. Kibitzing by Jeffrey Itell. Copyright © 1997 All rights reserved. |
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